Had check in hand to pull trigger on this 458

Scam

 

Yea I was actually there when it happened! I've been on the forum for awhile(long time reader..) and have a 2017 Huracan. Bottom line is I'm a car enthusiast who would never want to see another enthusiast taken for a ride. It's happened to me and it sucked. First off 458 is just a gorgeous vehicle!! But that's a separate discussion. I think he figured out quick he wasn't selling it to a 90 year old grandpa. I'm not here to blast the car or anything. But I will say the owner is very shady/weird. I agree the sales guy was nice..but the car..has no known documented owner for the past three years and has only had 500 miles put on the car. Rims were changed to a cheap alternative..oh the owner is a huge track guy..huge. His favorite car to track is the 458..regardless whoever buys this car all I'm saying is do your due diligence..get a paint monitor done and a ppi from a reputable dealer. But I recommend that on all cars!! If anything positive came out of this I may consider buying a 458 spyder to add☺️

 

Wow, that was really nice of them to bring the car to you for inspection. Especially since you were willing to buy the car on the spot.

But up until the point that you purchase the car, it's still his car, and there was at least the perception that someone driving the car caused damage to it.

I don't care who you are, you're going to get pissed off about that. Add to it an entourage of people obviously willing to fight about it, right or wrong, I'd take my toys and go home too.

I do not see avoiding an escalating situation as being shady.

OP never purchased the car so how was he taken on a ride?

There's obviously more to the story.

Maybe it just was not the seller for you ..

Nevertheless , Good luck in your search for an Italia!!

 

Humm interesting..'Damage? 'If that were the case wouldn't the seller want to sell the car to the interested party then??

The 'taken on a ride' is a generic comment for All..

Hey I was just giving a fair warning shot to my fellow car people that's all. Hence why I just said to do your due diligence..nothing more nothing less.. There is always more to a story..one cannot sum up everything in five lines..but I will leave it with this..the people that can tell you the story are the ones that were there..You weren't.

 

Are you referring to Danny B?

 

This sounds interesting. I didn't mind the rims BTW. Good luck with your search bro. There are plenty of nice rigs out there. Best , Kirk

 

Is this going to turn into one of those threads?

I do hope so...

 

Walk away. Run away. Call the cops

 

whats the deal on this, Im looking at this car....

 

Weird. If the car i was trying to sell was somehow damaged during a test drive by an interested party and said party said they wanted to pursue the transaction, then all the better, do the deal!

Strange indeed!

 

SUPER STRANGE
I heard that the trade wasn't as described.......?

 

Popcorn time...!!

 

passing on the car regardless....too much potential drama LOL

 

So what's the story here......

 

SUBSCRIBED

 

Wow. Interesting

 

That's a very long sentence. Was your trade as described?

 

I had a similar experience. I was selling an H1 hummer. Buyer and I had agreed on $90k selling price. Buyer had all pictures, videos, PPI etc to make good decision on whether to buy or not. After he digested all info and after it was inspected. We agreed to $90k price.

I drive all the way up to deliver H1. Guy starts in right away with he has seen them cheaper, with more accessories, bla bla bla. He then says he is wiling to go $75k max.

Even after written statement in email that he agrees to pay $90k, hes going to try and low ball me.

ROFL, seriously, this guy knew what he was doing. He was thinking after all my time invested that I would just say ok to his low ball offer.

I did the the same thing that the guy above did. I Laughed, said Good Bye, and drove back home. 2 weeks later, sold the H1 for $98K

Is this what happened above, I do not know. Was the "Check in hand" for the same amount that was agreed on before arrival?

Seems odd someone would leave with car if they where offered a check for their asking price. Being offered a check with low ball figure would certainly be cause to just turn around and go home with the car.

 

Out of curiosity, white type of AMG GTs was it? there was a Launch Edition that was first introduced in the USA that later became known to have a manufacturer defect.

Just saying...

 

Hello All! This is Danny Baker. I am the one that refused to sell "Ruffinit" the 458 Ferrari that he referenced above. I am here to set the record straight. I will do my best to state facts and keep my opinion out of it so here goes:

1) We agreed on a deal to sell "Ruffinit" a 2011 Ferrari 458 Italia and trade for 2 cars (a 2010 Range Rover SC Black/Black with 47k miles and a 2016 Mercedes AMG GTS White/Tan with 6k miles). We provided him with Service History for the car, detailed photos, etc. The car shows as new. One of the nicest I personally have seen. It does have tasteful, forged aftermarket wheels with proper Ferrari Center Caps, Valve Stems, TPMS, etc. It uses original tires which are still on the car and have 50% tread remaining. We offered to sell the buyer a set of wheels like what came on it (I refer to them as the "star wheel", for a small additional fee of $1500, but he declined.)

2) I personally agreed to drive the truck and trailer to do the deal. I brought my Sales Manager, Alex. I was excited to meet a new customer and had a strong desire to build a relationship with him, esp. for service. I like to, when possible, deliver cars and shake peoples hands and thank them for the business. I have personally delivered cars to many people on this forum, so this is not new.

3) We did not charge a delivery fee. We provided that service for free. After the deal was agreed to over the phone.

4) We showed up around 6:30 PM on Friday of Memorial Day Weekend.

5) I unloaded the car personally.

6) The buyer and his family all proceeded to look at the Ferrari 458. They were clearly impressed. I said point blank, "I told you I would deliver you a "perfect car" and I did right?" He said with a huge smile "Yes". *These are facts. There were about 6 people total that witnessed this.

7) The buyer then proceeded to take the 458 for a 4 mile "test drive" with another member of the family.

8)While they were gone driving the 458, I inspected the 2 trades which were in the driveway lined up for me to easily walk around.

9) The Mercedes AMG GTS was fine. It was very dirty, but the buyer told me about this before I arrived and I said that it was fine for the trades to be "dirty". He apologized in advance that he did not have time to wash the car before my arrival, but he had planned to. I said "all good".

10) The 2010 Range Rover was a problem. The front bumper had received damage. The paint was fractured across it and flaking off. There was a 2" chunk of the plastic bumper cover missing. One of the parking sensors was missing (driver side, nearest the license plate holder). Rear bumper was damaged, cracked paint etc like the front. The passenger's side of the vehicle looked as if it had scraped a brick wall. It was not dented that badly, but the front right fender and the right rear fender had scrapes that were through the paint and needed to be painted to be fixed properly. There was also a 3" by 1" section of leather dye that was missing on the lower outside bolster of the front passenger's seat. (I have pictures of all of this. Please feel free to email me at [email protected] or call my cell at 314-267-9890 if you wish to see.)

11) We asked the buyer about the condition of his cars before we made the deal several times. He said they were very nice, no issues, (I believe he used the word "Perfect" for the Mercedes)...He also said "I just bought this Range Rover 5 months ago, Its like new, no issues, you'll see it when you get here. I have nothing to hide". ***I am a dealer, I have done this for a long time. No car is "perfect". Lots of people trade in cars to us and tell us their car is "perfect"...no car ever is. We know how to look at cars and judge what is reasonable. I know what a 47k mile Range Rover in "decent to good" condition should look like and his was not that. A few scrapes and scratches here or there would have been find. Chips, maybe a dent or two, some curbed wheels, dirty interior, again, all that would have been fine. What he attempted to trade to me was not that. It had been damaged badly. It was no where near how it was described. In my mind it needed $3,000-5,000 worth of reconditioning to be at the level of what I expected it to be. I would estimate it would need $7,000-10,000 worth of work to be what he told us it was. I thought $3,000 was more than fair. That was an opinion, but it was my opinion to make and have.

12) When the buyer returned form the test drive, I approached him about the damage on the Range Rover. He and his family agreed that it was damaged. I acknowledged that possibly he did not realize, remember, know that it was damaged, but it was damaged and it was not represented to me prior to making the 3 hour trip to come deliver the 458.

13) I informed him that I would need a $3,000 adjustment to make the deal. We discussed where I came up with that amount of $. He said that I was being "Hyper Sensitive" and that I should not be so hard on his car. I explained that we "Stepped up" on the trade value as he said it was "Perfect" and that is was a low mileage Range Rover. The reality was very different. He agreed and he offered $700. I said that I could not do that. About this time one of his family members or friends tried to help the situation. Basically he was echo'ing his friend purchasing the car. They kept saying that I was being "too hard" on the Range Rover etc.

14) The gentleman with the white Huracan said something that greatly offended me right when he was about to get into his car and drive away. I calmly looked at the buyer and said "This is not going to work out. Thank you for the opportunity, but I am taking the 458 home with me".

15) I got in the 458 and loaded it on the trailer. The whole time I was tying it down the buyer and his friends/family watched.

16) After we started driving away he text my Sales Manager Alex, "We can take the Range Rover out of the deal and only trade for the Ferrari". I told Alex to text him back "I am sorry, but Danny has no interest in doing business with you. He said you have insulted him and wasted his time". (Both of which are true)

17) The buyer responded to the above with a "nasty" text that I do not believe he wants repeated here. I instructed Alex not to respond. And here we are.

18) I am 32. I have been in the car business since I was 15. All through highschool, college, grad school etc. I have worked in several franchise dealerships and I have owned my own dealership for over 7 years. I have never met a customer that I was so insulted by. I have never met a customer that I believed was so unreasonable.

19) As a dealer, I reserve the right to sell to who I want. I also reserve the right to not sell to someone, because their trade is mis-described. Quite frankly, I also reserve the right to NOT sell to someone because they offend me, or insult me. This customer did exactly that and I refused to sell him my car.

20) My car is extremely nice. Shows as new. It did have some very minor scrapes under the front bumper that were not there when I unloaded the car. It is very easy to see under the car when you load on my trailer, I looked. It did not have any scrapes when I loaded it, it did when they returned from the drive. They are very minor and I don't think the buyer minded them. Any of you are welcome to visit my dealership and see the car for yourself. I have nothing to hide.

21) I will repeat: I have nothing to hide. I stand by my decision to not sell "Ruffinit" the 458. He may not like that, but again, its my choice to make.

22) I do drive a 458 on the track, a lot. Its a "Challenge 458" and I compete in the Ferrari Challenge Series. So I have a real race car to drive on the track. I would never drive a car that is for sale in my "retail" inventory on a track. I have never done that and will never do that. I simply don't want the liability or the wear and tear. In fact I am HIGHLY against road cars on the track. After having driven a purpose built race car with cage and proper safety equipment, I would not feel safe in a road car on the track.

Ruffinit: You are welcome to say anything you want on this forum. I would ask that you state only facts, as have I. You and your brother have posted some completely false rumors and accusations. I understand you wanted my 458. I also understand that you are offended that I "refused" your business, but that is my right.

I have done the best I can to state facts.

I am not big on forums, I respect their validity in the marketplace, but I don't have time to keep up. I run multiple business and travel a ton.

I was once told by a wise man, "The truth is never as good as it seems nor as bad as it seems". I encourage you all to seek the truth in this matter and formulate your own opinions.

I have included my personal cell phone and email above. Feel free to call, text, email etc.

I have nothing to hide. I will also not stand by and let someone try to tarnish my reputation with false information. I certainly make plenty of mistakes, this was not one of them.

-DB

 

It's always "fun" to see the other sides view. Things actually make more sense now. Sure didn't before.

 

I purchased my 430 from Danny long distance and had a fantastic experience in dealing with him.